Hi everyone, hope you’re all having a blast keeping up all those New Year’s Resolutions! Mine has been to read part of a fiction novel for at least half hour a day. My latest read has been HIDDEN BODIES by Caroline Kepnes. It’s the sequel to her book YOU, which was such a page turner I had a tough time putting it down so I could sleep, eat…or do anything, really.

What I like about these two books is that the protagonist is a stalker and a murderer. Yep. That’s right. I like that. Why? Because somehow this author was able to make this killer likeable. He had redeeming qualities. And as a writer and author myself, I know how difficult that is to pull off! Although I felt her first book was better than the second, as often happens with sequels, both gave me a little more insight into creative characterization, especially regarding people who would be considered in society as abhorrent.

So my question to you, my fellow writers and authors, have you read a good book lately? And did you learn something that you could take back to your own work-in-progress? Let’s hear it!

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6 responses to “Roundtable Topic February 2018”

Great post, Kim! My favorite recent read is Sheila Connolly’s latest Cork County Mystery, Many A Twist. This the 5th or 6th in the series, and it is head and shoulders above the others. As the title suggests, the plot is loaded with twists and turns that skillfully weave together many characters and subplots. Although I identified the killer early, I enjoyed every scene right to the unusual ending. And, of course, I loved being back in County Cork, Ireland, even if just in a book. Strongly recommended to any mystery reader.

Yes. I am on my third book in the past ten days. Currently reading another W.E.B Griffin Badge of Honor book. I find Jack Higgins, Griffin, and Clive Cussler addictive. Sometimes, I read for 30 minutes. Sometimes for three hours depending upon the time of night and the Cat’s mood. While the Cat likes to read, He has a tendency to easily doze off. I glean good investigative procedures from these authors and incorporate some of it into my own mysteries.

I am not a violent person and seldom would select such a book for my reading pleasure. As a somewhat slow reader, I choose carefully, therefore, lest I waste my time on some unworthy plot.

None the less, the book I recently finished was, in my opinion, violent. Yet, it was too intriguing to put aside. “Back Roads” by Tawni O’Dell carries a decal of “Oprah’s Choice” on the cover. Maybe it was that decal or maybe it was the faint figure of a nude woman that drew my attention to one book among thousands at the Greece Library Book Sale at Greece Ridge Mall.

The protagonist, a young man, is the oldest of several children of a woman serving time for the murder of her husband. He is being questioned by police about a woman’s murder, yet remains silent. His story and his life leak out as the pages turn. Outwardly violent, he is engaged in an internal battle that reveals his true goodness. Troubled, and troubling to the reader, he offers flashes of that trait throughout the chapters.

How many times, I wonder, did I decide to send the unfinished pages to the garage sale box, but continued. Maybe that’s why the book is “Oprah’s Choice”.